How to strengthen my Tier 2 CV for MBBs?

Hi there,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about the rejections!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your situation:

• If you have been invited in the past and have obviously continued to improve your profile, I would highly advise you not to find fault with yourself. The current economic situation is quite tight, which is currently leading to a lot of rejections.

You can find more on this topic here: How to deal with a rejection from a consulting company.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

Q: Can someone give me clear examples on how to make my profile even more attractive?

For specific comments, we would need to have a look at your CV (you can post a sanitized version in the Q&A or reach out to a coach for suggestions).

As general feedback, in terms of experience if you are working in a Tier 2, your background should be already relevant for MBB. 

In terms of the format, I would recommend the following:

1. Use action verbs to describe the experiences (eg “Led…; Analyzed…) and use a structure of Action → Results.
2. Quantify results. If you find it challenging to define numbers, you can use the number of countries/clients/forecasted results.
3. Show experience related to leadership or teamwork. A good number of candidates have bullets about problem-solving and personal achievements, but don't clearly show experiences related to working in a team.

Besides improving the CV, I would recommend looking for a referral, you can find more below:

▶ How to Get an MBB Invitation

Good luck!

Francesco

First of all, your CV is probably already great in terms of the relevant experience that you have. What you need, is to make sure that you tell your story the right way and that your CV emphasises the right things.

2-4% of the CVs that I see are not ready to be sent out. And that's not because the experience is not enough, but because they don't do what's needed to shine in front of the recruiters.

Aside from this, work on getting referrals (these increase your chances of passing screening) and also include a cover letter when this is possible (and make sure that it's well written, not ChatGPT generated).

Sharing some materials to help with the points from above:

Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals

Expert Guide: How To Get Referrals Via LinkedIn?

Best,
Cristian

It's great that you made it to the final rounds with two firms but remember that 2022 was a year where the demand for consultants was unprecedented.

In 2024, the situation is almost completely the opposite. All firms have had massive layoffs (although they are saying its performance related), people leaving on their own are at historical lows and hiring has slowed down by a lot. In this market, your best bet is to network hard to get a sense of which teams and regions have opportunities for someone with your experience.

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about the rejections.

If you've been invited before and have since enhanced your profile, don't be too hard on yourself. 2024 has been a tough year and many good candidates have failed to get an offer.  Focus on highlighting your significant achievements, certifications, and leadership roles. Reconnect with your MBB contacts, update your resume and LinkedIn, and publish articles to showcase your expertise. Good luck!

Regards,
Ashwin

Generic advice won’t work here. Your CV was good enough to get an invitation before, so there’s nothing inherently wrong with it (of course, worse market conditions make it more difficult to get the interview now). So at this point it is really about working well the details (and of course, being promoted…). Either you show your CV here or ask a good coach for a dedicated session.